Hopefully this is in the right forum (I'm assuming this is a Gnome configuration issue). I'm running Lisa / Gnome 3.2.1

I have an a acer Laptop which I use with a large 27" monitor, and external keyboard / mouse. The monitor is my main display, and the laptop monitor acts as a supplementary display on the right hand side. This means that in normal use, my desktop icons, and my panels are on the external display.

If I wish to unhook the laptop, I need to first select "Configure Display Settings" and turn off the external monitor, otherwise my icons and panels remain in the now disconnected display and are inaccessible. When I rehookup the laptop, it gets more convuluted: I have to plugin the monitor, turn on the external monitor in the display settings (this gives me an extra screen on the left of my laptop, but with my panels and icons on the right), turn off the laptop display (this moves icons etc to the external monitor), and then turn the laptop display back on.

What I want is for the above to happen automatically when I remove or connect the external monitor. i.e. If a monitor is attached, it becomes the primary display, and is on the left. If it is not attached, the laptop display is the primary display.

It does not seem possible to do this through the available Gnome configuration tools - can anyone suggest a way of acheiving this?